Greed and Corruption in America

The collapse of most empires is not the result of warfare. The downfall of most of them has been triggered by moral decay. When greed and corruption become widespread, the fabric of society begins to break down.

The left likes to blame the nation’s problems on the rich. They claim, if we just make them pay their fair share, America’s difficulties will be resolved. We could tax the richest 1% of Americans at a 100% rate, and we would still not have enough money to fix the nation’s financial woes.

Our key monetary problem is not the lack of taxpayers. We simply have too many people receiving money from the government. The New Deal programs of President Franklin D. Roosevelt started the nation down a dangerous path. The welfare state system has grown with each new president adding his own program to the mix. The people’s addiction to federal handouts reached a new low during the pandemic when the state paid citizens $6 trillion to not work.

The recent surge in Covid cases makes me wonder if more stimulus checks will be called for. More than a year after the vaccine was rolled out, new cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. have soared to their highest level on record at over 265,000 per day on average, a surge driven largely by the Omicron variant. New cases per day have more than doubled over the past two weeks, eclipsing the old mark of 250,000 set in mid-January, according to data kept by Johns Hopkins University.

The Omicron variant is less deadly than the original virus but is vastly more contagious. Johns Hopkins also said that it’s possible that 60% percent of the population could contract the virus. It is unthinkable that we would spend another $6 trillion on Covid. Few people protested the previous stimulus checks, so they would gladly take any new money.

The greatest damage is not that our national debt went from $22 trillion to $29.5 trillion. The stimulus caused millions of people to drop out of the workforce.

Our lawmakers love to hand out cash, but they also like to enrich themselves with government money. They do so by investing in companies that benefit from the bill they pass. Nancy Pelosi and Mitch McConnell are two of the dumbest members of Congress. You would think they were both financial geniuses if you looked at their stock accounts for the year 2021. Nancy had a return of 56%, and Mitch had his stock account rise by 67%. Both of them beat the top 12 money managers on Wall Street. The best performer was David Shaw, with a return of 42%.

Despite bipartisan support for prohibiting members of Congress from buying and holding individual stocks in office, Pelosi recently said that lawmakers should be allowed to make trades while serving. “We’re a free-market economy,” Pelosi told reporters during a news conference. “They should be able to participate in that.”

It’s not fair to the average investor to have Congress trading on knowledge that could have a profound impact on stock prices. If we are going to allow members of Congress to trade on inside information, we might as well allow them to sell their votes to the highest bidder.

When Joe Biden came to office, it’s pretty much a given that his son Hunter Biden was going to use his father to make money. Hunter has a long history of moral failings. He has a fondness for a variety of drugs. Over the past two decades, Biden has been in and out of rehabilitation several times. He fathered a daughter with an Arkansas stripper and then claimed to have never met the woman.

The president’s son was part owner of a venture involved in the $3.8 billion purchase by a Chinese conglomerate of one of the world’s largest cobalt deposits. Hunter opened an art gallery, which has some wondering if people who buy one of Hunter’s paintings will be able to use the acquisition to influence his father’s administration.

The White House has made it clear that Hunter is free of any safeguards. Press Secretary Jen Psaki refused to commit to “basic transparency” about Hunter’s involvement in that Chinese investment fund during a White House Press Briefing. She also refused to admit his infamous laptop is authentic.

“The president’s son is not an employee of the federal government, so I’d point you to his representatives,” Psaki snarked after being asked about the China connection. She used the same lame excuse back in February: “He’s a private citizen — I would point you to him or his lawyers on the outside on any update.”

Greed and Corruption have become so profound in America, I think there’s a 100% chance that we will suffer a financial meltdown. The reason for my certainty is that most people have lost the ability to see the danger that is headed in their direction.

“The way of the wicked is as darkness. They know not at what they stumble” (Proverbs 4:19).

–Todd

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Rapture or Rupture

Twenty something years ago, Pat Robertson was on his network, Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN). I remember him saying in an almost amused, mocking tone that there would be no Rapture of the church. He declared that if that were to happen, it would completely disrupt all of the human condition across the world.

Planes would be crashing, cars would be wrecking, trains would run wild, and destruction of every sort would take place in such a moment. That’s not going to happen, he said. There will be no Rapture. He implied rather that there will be a “rupture” of all culture and society across the world. The Tribulation would be the implosion that wrecks everything, rather than the explosion a so-called Rapture would cause.

I remember distinctly Pat talking with his then co-host Sheila Walsh, the Scottish Christian broadcaster. As a side note, I presume Sheila has since moved on from agreeing with Mr. Robertson and his dismissing the pre-Trib Rapture “theory,” as he called it. I’ve heard her just within the past year on air with Dr. David Jeremiah, who teaches solidly on the pre-Trib Rapture of the church. She seemed to agree totally with all he said on the prophetic topic.

Over the years, there has been banter coming from those who adamantly hold that the pre-Trib Rapture is a myth. These sometimes use the word “rupture” to sneer at the idea of a Rapture, which we believe is Bible truth as taught by the Apostle Paul—and, by the way, by the Lord Jesus as well. He said the following as recorded by the Apostle John.

Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. (John 14:1–3)

In these words of the Lord we are told, I’m convinced, the same as the Apostle Paul foretells.

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:16–17)

For all the fun-making against pre-Trib Rapture and those of us who believe it to be the next catastrophic intervention by Christ into human affairs, they can’t erase these powerful promises. That is, they can’t without spiritualizing and allegorizing as they make their case. They have to conclude that neither Jesus nor Paul meant what they said in a literal sense.

There is, however, a biblically prophetic passage that speaks, I believe, of a rupture. It is a key prophecy that will take place immediately after the Rapture of the Church. As a matter of fact, we’ve seen this rupture beginning for some time. It will be the tear in the fabric of this world system that will rip civilization the way Mr. Robertson once feared.

The prophet Zechariah forewarned of this coming rupture.

And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. (Zechariah 12:3)

The prophet is saying here that when the world takes on Jerusalem and Israel–God’s chosen city and nation—it will be a load too heavy to lift. They will be injured severely, or ruptured, in their attempt to remove the city and nation from being in the place where God put them.

We’ve seen almost daily leaders from countries surrounding modern Israel declaring they will destroy the tiny Jewish state. Those such as Nasser and Sadat have tried to do so. Israel not only remains, but is now in a stronger position than ever, even though constantly threatened.

Antichrist and his juggernaut will finally manage to invade Israel, following all of Israel’s surrounding enemies being destroyed in the Gog-Magog attack of Ezekiel 38 and 39.  But the man of sin will, too, be severely injured and ultimately bound in chains and removed to eternal punishment. Israel will become the chief nation of the entire world during the Millennium—Christ’s thousand-year reign on planet earth.

Thankfully, all who accept Christ now, this side of the Rapture, will not endure the rupture the whole world will suffer when God again begins dealing with His chosen people, the Jews.

Here again is how to avoid being part of that future injury—that rupture—that will condemn the soul to eternity apart from God.

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 10:9–10)

—Terry

Sleepwalking Toward the Mark of the Beast

Over the years, I’ve probably written several dozen articles on modern technology that could be used to implement the mark of the beast. When I was a kid, I read all types of publications that portrayed the 666 mark as an evil tattoo that people were forced to receive. It was commonly portrayed as something similar to the yellow star of David that the Jews were forced to wear during the Holocaust.

In the past couple of years, I’ve been frequently amazed by articles that promoted the use of microchips in managing the Covid-19 pandemic. I’m not stunned by how closely this technology matches the Bible’s description of the mark of the beast. It’s the growing enthusiasm for the chips that has me dumbfounded.

I read on a British news site that a Swedish company is creating a microchip that could be presented as a way to confirm one has the Covid-19 vaccine. The microchip technology startup called Epicenter is creating a microchip that will be implanted under a person’s skin and will rely on existing “near-field communication” (NFC) to send data regarding one’s vaccination status.

A microchip the size of a grain of rice can be implanted under your skin to help provide your vaccination status. The chip is implanted into your arm and can verify your vaccination status when placed next to an NFC. The procedure is relatively quick and costs about $100.

“Imagine showing your COVID-19 passport with just a flash of your arm,” the video starts while showing a person holding out their arm and scanning it with a mobile phone.

“Right now, it is very convenient to have a COVID passport always accessible on your implant,” the video also stated.

The Covid-19 pandemic has been a perfect tool for taking away our liberties. Life will return to normal if we all line up and get our vaccine. If you got a vaccine in January, you now have about zero protection from the Delta and Omicron variants, so now you have to get a booster shot. Drug companies are now working on a second series of booster shots.

I am hard-pressed to find videos that explain what is in these booster shots. About 20% of the US population has a high level of mistrust in the government, which prevents them from getting the Covid vaccine. The media and the government should educate people about what is in the vaccines and how they prevent infection.

For nearly two years, the liberal media have blasted one key message: get the vaccine or you’re going to die. Their sickest angle is focusing on every anti-vaxxer that died from Covid-19. Marcus Lamb, a co-founder and the CEO of the conservative Christian Daystar Television Network, was vocally opposed to Covid-19 vaccines, and he died of it last month. If Lamb had gotten the vaccine and died the next day, the press would never mention his name. I don’t know why Lamb was against the vaccine, but I respect his right not to want to get it.

If you say something negative about the vaccines on social media, you can get banned for spreading misinformation. We have to put 100% of our trust into the ministry of truth. If you put blind faith into any operation, disaster will eventually be the result.

People on the right also need to respect people’s decisions to get the vaccine. Former President Donald Trump got booed by his own supporters for revealing that he’d gotten a Covid vaccine booster shot. If Trump dropped dead from unforeseen side effects, he might save millions of lives by being an early guinea pig.

I was thinking about why we keep losing more and more of our freedom. I realized that mistrust works hand and hand with the liberal media and the government propaganda. A key reason why the Omicron Virant came from South Africa is because 75% of the population is not vaccinated. Millions of doses had to be dumped into landfills because the vaccine had expired. The Africans didn’t have enough faith in the white man’s cure for the virus, so we’re stuck on the variant merry-go-round until the global community requires everyone to get the vaccine. Maybe that Swedish firm will get the contract. The chip could have vaccine status, bank account access code, and proof of allegiance to a certain world leader.

“He causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name” (Rev 13:16-18).

–Todd

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Sanctioning Sodom

When Hal Lindsey’s book, The Late, Great, Planet Earth, was released in May of 1970, the information startled even more than informed those who read it. People by the millions were suddenly given biblical teaching they, except for very few among them, had never heard.

Bible prophecy was presented as relevant in such a way as to make clear where the world stood in history and where it was headed. The results were a spiritual awakening for many.

I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard people say that they were saved as a result of reading Hal’s book. I agree with the encapsulating description promoting the book:

The Late Great Planet Earth cannot be overstated. The New York Times called it the “no. 1 non-fiction bestseller of the decade.” For Christians and non-Christians of the 1970s, Hal Lindsey’s blockbuster served as a wake-up call on events soon to come and events already unfolding—all leading up to the greatest event of all: the return of Jesus Christ.

The book was—as they say—cutting edge. It did indeed give some current events as viewed through the template of Bible prophecy.

For example, Lindsey and his coauthor C. C. Carlson wrote about how the region of Russia and surrounding USSR states were likely the nucleus of the Gog-Magog force that would, according to the prophet Ezekiel, attack Israel from the north. They detailed the development of the European Union and how it was likely destined to morph into the final Antichrist kingdom as given by Daniel the prophet.

Again, current events and issues of that time in the 1970s were shaping along the lines of God’s Word with regard to prophecy for the end of the age.

Lindsey pointed out many other facets that gave evidence that Christ would soon call the Church into His Presence. This would be the Rapture.

Some accused him of date-setting in that he implied 1988 might be the year of the Rapture or of some calamitous occurrence in earth’s history—based upon Israel having been reborn as a nation in the year 1948.

I don’t find anywhere that Lindsey actually predicted the Rapture, but only that he offered supposition—again, based upon the Bible giving the number of years as forty for a generation. The Lord saying that “this generation shall not pass until all these things are fulfilled” and Israel’s rebirth into modernity being 1948 was offered as the basis for this thought.

Yet, with the ground-breaking evidence he saw through issues and events of the time, viewed through the prism of Bible prophecy, planet earth continued. It did not become the Late, Great, Planet Earth.

So we come to the year looming before us. The year 2022.

We might wonder how can we possibly truly look at the horizon of humanity and proclaim “Happy New Year!” The issues and events faced by humanity during the 1960s and 1970s were daunting in many ways for America and the world. However, those that confront humanity at this time as we begin 2022 are formidable indeed.

Of course, like most folks around at the time of Lindsey’s book release, the masses of humanity are looking in other directions than at the horizon they, in actuality, are facing. This is the case, even though the issues and events of our time far exceed the virulence of the Cold War, oil crises, and the free-love generation.

Not only are the issues and events of these troubled times more ominous in many respects, but they point almost certainly at the coming Tribulation—Daniel’s seventieth week and the year 2022.

Let’s consider but a few as we peer into what the current occupant of the White House once termed “a dark winter.”

Israel

If Israel was a central indicator of the lateness of the prophetic hour in the time of The Late, Great, Planet, Earth’s release, that nation and people are in an intensifying diplomatic spotlight at this hour. It is swiftly becoming the “burdensome stone” of Zechariah chapter 12.

Fear of Israel striking Iran’s nuclear facilities, for example, engenders great concern from the global puppet masters—the UN, etc.

Russia, Iran, Turkey

These nation-state entities represent the heart of the Gog-Magog attack. They are coalescing above Israel in the precise configuration Ezekiel prophesied.

China

The CPC is preparing the Chinese people for something dramatic. They are increasing China’s hegemony over the other regions of Asia. This is shaping for the moment they and other “kings of the east” will kill a third of the earth’s population.

New World Order

The globalists, who in my view are the human minions in consort with the demonic minions of Ephesians 6:12, are preparing the way for Antichrist’s 666 dictatorship.

COVID has served as a tool of gathering control over the entire planet. Vaccine and mask mandates are making lemmings out of people across the globe. The devil’s blueprint for enslaving the planet at some point in the not-too-distant future is well into the construction stage.

Economic tyranny is driving the richest nation to ever exist on the planet toward collapse, with trillions of dollars printed out of whole cloth—nothing to back those dollars. Complete collapse is inevitable.

Culture and Society

The culture isn’t just coarsening, it is corroding and corrupting at a pace the folks of the 1960s and 1970s, despite the sensual evil of that time, could not have fathomed.

This era’s beastly, cultural minions are doing such things as insisting that children age 5 and younger be given hormonal and other treatments in order to change their genders.

They are having perverts teach grade schoolers and younger sexual activities and deviancy that people of the 1960s and 1970s would have deemed worthy of public hanging for the perpetrators.

Apostasy

Even Catholics are appalled at the pope’s antics in these times.

He condones homosexuality; he says Christ is not the only way to salvation; he makes nice in trying to bring all religions together—a thing Bible prophecy tells us will be central to Antichrist and his system of world control.

Yet with all this and much more wickedness developing, I can say “Happy New Year!”

That’s because the Lord Jesus Christ is still sitting at the right side of God the Heavenly Father. The Father is about to say to the Son, “Go get my children.”

I can assure this, because all of the signals are in place that point to the Tribulation and Christ’s Second Advent.

Unlike in the time of Hal’s release of his book, they are all in place. That is a happy prospect indeed for 2022!

And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. (Luke 21:28)

—Terry